Recording therapy session

I was feeling upset every time i left my therapy session that i was forgetting a lot of important things my therapist had told me during session. I decided to use my iphone to record the session but not tell him i was doing that. I know you might say that is rude not to tell him, but i just didnt want to go into the whole thing of asking him blah blah and i wasnt even sure if i would like doing it so why go through the trouble of asking him? Anyways, I recorded it and afterwards i planned on listening to it and seeing can i improve on being more open in session, write down important things my therapist said in session and then just delete it because i didnt want to have it to feel the need to analyze me any further. Well, i listened to it and it was horrible. I was very closed, i complained a lot about the same things over and over again and heard hardly any feedback from therapist...and i didnt like how my voice sounded on the tape and how i said "like" every five seconds ... so i started getting upset about that too. I have no idea how my therapist can listen to that for one hour! It could have been just a bad session because i have had good ones in the past. everyone can have bad days some times and not use their opportunities to their fullest potential right? should i be so hard on myself? what do u think, is recording session a good or bad idea?

I can really relate to this. Just yesterday I was in a session and I recorded it without my T's knowledge. It was the first time in my 4.5 years of therapy that I had ever recorded a session. Listening to the recording was both a weird and cool experience. Like you, I hated how I sounded. A lot of what I said I wish I could go back and change.

We all have bad sessions. And sometimes the sessions that we feel are "bad" tend to be the ones where we experience the most growth. A friend once told me, "Allein, be gentle with yourself." And it could be helpful for you to do the same. Leave the bad session in the dust and focus on the here and now. I find recording sessions could be potentially beneficial for some people. The recording serves as something to go back to if you forget something T mentioned. Or, if you're the type of person that has a really difficult time in between sessions, that recording can also serve as a buffer to tide you over until the next appointment.

you probably are being hard on yourself i imagine. i can't believe you did that though i would be terrified of being found out. like T would just know i was doing it or something. did you find it useful though? sounds like it was more harmful than helpful

Although I've never recorded a session, I know I would have some of the same problems you did. I can't stand to hear the sound of my voice, and I always think I sound uneducated. I would definetly be more critical of myself then being able to hear the good things said by either T or myself. It's also maybe easy to miss some of the important, meaningful subject matter when you are concentrating on how you sound. I don't think you should be hard on yourself, but I also don't think that you should record anything without the other person knowing. It moves a bit past rude. I wouldn't beat yourself up about it, but I also wouldn't do it again unless you can see if it's okay with your T, and unless you actually think it would be useful.

I do like your stealth styles though.

It is not a big deal to record your appointments. I would not worry about.

I would never record my T without her permission.
Having said that, I think you were very brave to listen to it!

now i'm so curious about what my session would sound like if i recorded it. so tempted.

I think legally speaking it's ok to record any conversation that you are a part of. But to record two completely different people talking (you listening in) isn't legal to my knowledge.

I wouldn't be able to stand my own stuttering voice. Ick. Brave try though. Nothing ventured, nothing gained? Sorry it didn't work out so well, but now you know.

Actually, in many US states, it is illegal to record a conversation without the consent of ALL parties involved. In fact, depending on where you live, it may be classified as a felony. I'm sure your therapist would not take legal action against you for making the recording but, legally speaking, he could. For that reason, I would strongly urge you to familiarize yourself with the laws in your jurisdiction to make sure you are not breaking them.

Aside from the legal aspects of it, it's a bit of a violation of trust & privacy to record someone without their knowledge. How would you feel if you found out that T recorded your sessions, because he wanted to listen to them later and think about whether there were things he could do differently? He might have good intentions, but I bet it would make you uncomfortable!

However, in response to your reaction to the tape, don't be too hard on yourself! Most people feel uncomfortable when they hear the sound of their own voice-- it sounds weird to us, but it doesn't sound weird to others! It's easy to be critical of yourself in retrospect-- but, in the moment, I'm sure the way you handled the session was just fine.

Actually, many states do not require that All parties be notified. In fact, some states only require that the one party know about it. That is definitely the case where I live.

I have been recording my sessions for awhile. It has been helpful. It is surprising to hear a T deny saying something that they definitely have said.

The trust issue is more important in therapy than the legal issue, IMO.

i know in the uk that person to person conversations you can record those, but companies are different. i don't know where that leaves the t convo. if the t was doing the recording he would have to tell you but i dont' know about the other way around

it's not like you're using it against him or anything. i don't think it's a big moral transgression myself.

I thought someone said in a prior thread that there is nothing legally protecting physicians from being recorded... anyone remember that thread want to chime in or maybe on of the lawyers on the forum?

Like I said, not all, but many states do have laws that require ALL parties to be notified (including the state in which I live). I studied these laws a few years ago for a book I wrote for LexisNexis.

Here's a link that explains:
http://www.citmedialaw.org/legal-gui...-conversations

I think it's OK legally, but I guess it depends on where you live. But I don't think it's a great idea because it creates a secret that you're keeping from T. And you can't be sure how they would react - maybe they would be OK with it, or maybe not. So you hide it from them. And if it starts to bother you, now you have to make a decision whether to tell them or not, but by now you've already been doing it for a while, and you see where I'm going with this. It's important in therapy to be as open and honest as you can, and this is the opposite.

Personally, I wouldn't want anyone recording me without my permission, or at least telling me about it. I don't care if it's legal or not - it would bother me a lot that someone I knew would do that without telling me. That's just me.

wow that came out wrong! i only did it once and i did not mean to hurt anyone esp. therapist. i will not do it again, but i just wanted feedback on the idea of recording a session not the legal or moral aspect of it bc i wont do it again based on my experience. even if u asked the therapist i wanted to know if recording a session was helpful to ppl. well i hope u all dont think im evil bc i only had good intentions....

I wouldn't record my session, whether or not my T knew or not, because being recorded just makes me nervous and I never feel "natural" when I know I'm being recorded (not to mention the whole hating the way my voices sounds on recordings thing). It would feel more like a performance than a genuine session. (I think that's a throwback to being a musical performer. Knowing you are being recorded raises the awareness of trying to give your "best" performance, not your "usual" performance.) I think I'd end up with a recording of a session where I felt very inauthentic and intimidated the whole time which would essentially mean the recording would be pretty much useless to me.

I think I found that, that drs do not have an expectation of privacy when they are with a patient. that would have stuck in my mind cos I loved when I saw that on Law and Order for the first time, they put the bad guys in the cop car and left them in there, they blabbed, then the cops told them they did not have the expectation of privacy in a cop car. oh yeah, cos the first time someone reported that here on pc, I couldn't even read the post until I assured myself it was legit! what a wuss I am! and forgetful

I regularly record sessions with my pdoc who does t. It's not an issue because we both know, in fact it was at his encouragement that I began doing it. Sometimes it's helpful, sometimes not so much. Sometimes I don't feel the need to go back and listen to it. I of course think I sound like a 10yo boy, which I'm not lol. Overall, I have been glad I've been doing it, there have been several important things that were said but forgotten.

i don't think you've done anything that bad. i think there's been a bit of an over reaction to that aspect of your story imo.

Definitly don't think your evil. I did it once. It was very helpful, I ended up recording our most intense session ever. I remember what he says wrong all the time so I am glad I did for that one.

Will I do it again? Nope. Did I ever tell him? Nope. Funny a couple weeks later he suggested we record our sessions for that very reason.

I don't think you're evil.

I don't think you hurt anyone at all, I know your intentions were good, and I certainly don't think you're evil! I'm glad you posted and got some replies to help you decide what to do. That's what this forum is for - to get feedback.

I don't think you did anything wrong. Therapists are not eggshells. They are really not all that fragile. I have taped appointments. It helps me to know if the therapist said what I remember or what she remembers.

I told my therapist twice that I record and she ignored that; when I referred to "our recorded conversation" she was livid, shook her finger at me said shame on you.mI could turn you went to the police; it's a felony. She lectured me for a half an hour about it. this therapist did many unethical things including lying to me. insisting another therapist be in the room without any warning to me. quitting without notice after promising to give me notice. and without helping me find a new therapist.